today’s audio you’ll probably recognize, it’s the theme song to the classic 80’s sitcom staple, “the facts of life”. i’ll explain why i chose it shortly, but first, a wonderful little rabbit hole.
the first season of “the facts of life” had a much less cool proto-version of the iconic theme song; more characters; and clearly not the right vibe for continued success. for the second season, they jettisoned a lot of characters, leaving the iconic 5 - mrs garrett, blair, jo, natalie and tootie. the theme song i remember so well from my childhood was one of the new changes for this new season. who would remember all this drama? certainly not small fry me.
but a youtube user named steven brandt wants us all to remember and, i presume, learn, this important fact of life. steven brandt has uploaded individual files of each season’s theme song as well as an 11 minute compilation of every season’s opening. most of these videos have hundreds of thousands of views. steven himself has more than 50K subscribers.
speaking of facts, did you know that one of the co-authors of “the facts of life” theme song is alan thicke? yes, that alan thicke who played the dad on family ties and who spawned the handsome demon robin of “blurred lines” infamy.
hi ho! these are the important facts of life.
i don’t think i was unusual in my TV watching habits as a small fry. like everyone else we had one TV with just a few channels. we were ecumenical watchers, happy with whatever was on, but i loved “the facts of life”, not for its humor or poignant life lessons, but because there was a tomboy character named jo played by an actor whose last name was almost my last name. as someone who has had a lifelong struggle with people mispronouncing, misspelling, or confusing my last name, this was validation of a sort. that the character was a nascent queer, well, that resonance would make itself known later. as the famous song “ring of keys” reminds us, we often recognize the adults we want to be before we can articulate what it is about them that makes sense to us.
i also loved another 80’s TV staple, “silver spoons”, for much the same reasons. one of the actors was named erin gray. not only was she beautiful and a badass, but she had my name. did you know that erin gray was born in hawaii in 1950 before it was a state?
these are the type of facts that make my friends laugh and lovingly roll their eyes when i present them at the dinner table. once i get on my fact horse, it’s hard to stop me. i try not to be too overbearing about it, but i just get excited to find things out then tell people about it. this type of enthusiasm is probably one of the roots of my performing career, but i don’t need a stage to get excited about facts.
every once in awhile i meet someone else who loves knowing and sharing facts as much as me. this meeting can go one of several ways… we may find ourselves breathlessly exchanging facts, building on each other’s facts until we create a tower of facts, impressive in its range and randomness. or… we may find ourselves at odds, my facts not lining up with your facts. i don’t shy away from this. i don’t mind being wrong. comparing facts can be a delight. and i am always happy to learn new facts. but i do mind is knowing i’m right than having to show someone else they’re wrong. this makes dinner awkward. depending on the scene, i might just shut up and let someone be wrong. or i am working on letting someone else share or correct. the facts will always become clear in the end.
hey yall - popping in here to say happy new year and remind you that if you aren’t already, you can subscribe and help support my writing and music in all forms. this newsletter will always be free, but your support is a big help and vote of confidence, especially in this coming year. thank you!!
2022 was a year of transition for me. obviously the transition to being carl’s daddy was fundamental, but i also started the transition to being something other than a touring artist. most of these logistics were emotional. it hasn’t actually changed my daily life that much. i still write and record and collaborate and learn new instruments. i traveled a bunch last year, but i was just not driving to a new place everyday, playing to empty rooms.
i also literally doubled down on this pod essay fusion thing: going from once a month to twice. it’s given a nice shape to my creative life, to have to make something low-stakes every two weeks or so. it has been super gratifying to see how many of you have chosen to subscribe and how consistent the listening/reading/email open numbers have been all year. you are showing up, commenting, and telling your friends. thank you!!
in honor of this transition, i have decided to rename this project from the mundane Erin McKeown Newsletter, to Erin McKeown’s Fax of Life.
i have been toying around with different names for awhile. it’s super fun to name things. carl richard marx, for example. and it’s a great opportunity to really define what something is. as i play less and less shows, as i make more longterm projects like musicals and memoirs, this pod newsletter has become an important space for people to easily find not just my newest music, but also me. we’re not going to chat at the merch table or do a radio interview together so much anymore, so the Fax of Life will be filling the void.
i spent a lot of time going around in circles with one word that i wanted to connect to the pod: polymath. i think it’s really the best word to describe me, but it’s a word like genius in the sense that it is a little bit gauche to claim it for yourself. honestly though, it fits me to a T.
polymath (noun): a person of wide-ranging knowledge or learning.
humbly, i have to tell you that i am more than capable at some very disparate skill sets. yes, music and writing are the obvious ones, but i am also a great tennis player and am happy to explain to you what a jet sweep is. i have a very good mechanical mind and have always been handy at building and fixing things. i am very good at maps and math. i could have just as easily become a scientist as a musician. what is most important though, is that i get so much pleasure from all of this disparate stuff. i have always chafed when people ask me if i am still singing. yes, i am. but i am also doing and interested in much much more.
so i tried to rename this pod something about being a polymath. but there are too many other pods and newsletters with that in the title. then i thought about my friends and the dinner table and how much i simply love facts.
voila! the fax of life.
i never had my own fax machine. but i certainly used one many times during their heyday. i loved their distinctive chortles and chirps, soft matte paper and smeary text. it was always a delight when the fax machine would go off. much better than if someone called or knocked on the door and then you had to talk to them. in the days before smart phones, and even in the early days of email, fax was actually the most convenient way to exchange information. i might be the only person in the world who considered a cover sheet an opportunity for mischief.
i also think because the heyday of the fax machines was relatively short, we more quickly romanticized them. sometime in 2008, a partner and i decided to keep in touch on a long overseas tour by fax-ing each other letters. we could have called or emailed affordably at the time, but you could still find a fax machine relatively easily, and it seemed nice to share handwritten letters. faster than the post but slower than email.
like a fax machine, i am moving more slowly and deliberately these days. i am sure i will eventually replace the branding and icon for this newsletter. and maybe someday make some social media promos to try to get more listeners. i put out a few feelers last year to find a network for this project, but not much came back. then i forgot about that and used my time to write a musical instead.
a few nights ago, i made dinner at 5p like i prefer, then hopped on my bike with my violin and mandolin on my back. i rode a few short minutes to a local bar where i joined an irish / old time session. after not even a year playing violin, the tunes were still way too fast for me, but the people were generous and let me call a few and play them at my dial-up speed. playing the violin is so so hard but also truly satisfying. more than anything else recently, it has made me feel like a musician.
though the vibe was perfect, i eventually had to leave. carl had been bear-maced by an aggressive dog owner on a trail that day (omg let me tell you those facts sometime), and i had to go home and check on him. riding home in the dark, my unamplified instruments on my back, my bicycle wheels humming along the pavement, a beautiful starlit sky above, i thought to myself, “this is the best tour ever, i can’t wait to tell everyone”.
x erin
ps - carl is doing fine now. here he is visiting his brother, the day before he got maced.
brothers: blazing kairo (l) and carl richard marx (r).
pps - we’re going to end this episode with a very wierd, unused verse from “the facts of life” theme song. it’s a little confusing and ham-fisted but i think it is very literally about those “facts of life” as they relate to intimate relationships.
¡ME GUSTA! : SOME OF MY FAVORITE THINGS!
one of the (few, unexpected) joys of the pandemic was re-opening my teaching practice, #CABINCOLLEGE, and getting to work with some outstanding artists on their new albums. this fall, two of these artist have released work that i have had the privilege to support and guide from the beginning. coastal geologist by day, singer-songwriter the rest of the time, katie castagno has written (and self-produced!) a gorgeous new album about every house she has lived in. ukelele devotee and literata, travels with brindle is track-by-track releasing a response to the elif batuman book, the idiot, that captures the feeling of 90’s era cambridge MA. please check out these wonderful new works!
football is full of tragedy right not, but here is an important story that sheds some light on what kind of memories and affection we place on such a violent-but-cant-stop-watching sport.
abraham lincoln’s slippers feature demonic-looking goats. not a joke!
i have long been taken with the saga of california wild mountain lion P-22. he died this month, and the science/humor pod OLOGIES had a wonderful tribute.
next time i find myself in germany, i am making sure i visit this incredible miniature wonderland.
i love it when famous christians go to bat for the queers. amy grant might actually have the sway to move the needle of humanity.
i always knew that it was better to be short.
UPCOMING SHOWS
Jan 19 - Feb 19 - San Jose CA
Miss You Like Hell at City Lights
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Oct 14 - Nov 11 - Seattle WA
Miss You Like Hell at Strawberry Theatre
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If you have further questions or concerns about COVID protocols, please contact the venues directly.
Reminder, Erin does not appear in productions of Miss You Like Hell
the fax of life